Why Is This Original Power Rangers Star Mad at Bryan Cranston?

IsBryan Cranstona homophobe? That’s the accusation aimed at theBreaking Badactor this morning as original Blue RangerDavid Yostchimes in with his thoughts about Cranston being cast asZordonin the newPower Rangersmovie reboot. While fans were happy to see Heisenberg come aboard, Yost definitely isn’t a fan. And it all stems back to some comments the formerMalcolm in the Middledad made in 2009, which were on the offensive side of the spectrum. Though we’ll let you decided how you truly feel about his former statements yourself.

Many were surprised that such an acclaimed actor asBryan Cranstonwould sign on to star inPower Rangers. And the news brought a lot of genuine excitement. Except for David Yost, who seems to have been holding onto a 7 year interview from IGN this entire time. In a recent exchange on Twitter, originalPink RangerAmy Jo Johnson asked her former co-star how he felt aboutBryan Cranstoncoming aboard the franchise as Zordon. His reaction was not what anyone was expected.

“Not cool. I’m not a fan of homophobesIGNlast page last line. Fey/gay = a problem.”

In the interview that David Yost points too, IGN asksBryan Cranstonabout his ties toPower Rangersand how he used to do voices forSaban, the company behind the franchise. The actor reveals that the Blue Ranger, aka Billy Cranston, was named after him. But he goes onto imply that the choice of character receiving the Cranston name did not make theBreaking Badstar happy. He explains why with what many will consider to be a very offensive term.

“He’s the fey one. That’s the problem.”

With that statement,Bryan Cranstonis not just singling out the character of the Blue Ranger for being ‘fey’, another term for ‘gay’, but it is also directly pointed at David Yost’s performance and how he chose to play the character of Billy Cranston. So it’s easy to see why Yost might be upset about Cranston’s choice of words. This also indicates that Billy was a lesser character because of his mannerisms. And that the actor is upset he didn’t get a ‘cooler’ character named after him. Does it mean thatCranstonis an out right homophobe? That might be stretching it.

After leaving the series,David Yostexpressed that part of the reason was due to harassment over his sexual orientation as a gay man working on a kids show. As he explains it, the set of the very cheap original series provided for a vile and hostile work environment. Yost claims that he was constantly trying to defend himself from crew members and even some of the cast working alongside him. It’s understandable why he might have held ontoBryan Cranston’s statement from over 7 years ago. And it’s obviously still a painful experience for the man. It will be interesting to see ifBryan Cranston, who is usually quite outspoken, apologizes for his past statements or even agrees that maybe his name went to the rightPower Ranger. Here are the Tweets in question.